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Possible Trip To The Netherlands To Visit My Daughter Now In Planning Stages

Discussion in 'Travel & Vacation' started by Yvonne Smith, Jul 4, 2021.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Thank you, @D’Ellyn Dottir ! I am excited about going to visit, for sure ! I read some of the information about getting a passport, and it said that could take up to 6 months, which puts us into cold winter weather; so it would probably not happen until next spring or summer.

    I just LOVE traveling on a train, and one of my deepest wishes was always to be able to take one of those cross-country vacations by train. Being able to enjoy the scenery and travel in the Netherlands and Germany by train will be most awesome !
     
    #16
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2021
  2. D'Ellyn Dottir

    D'Ellyn Dottir Very Well-Known Member
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    I loved European trains with their little 6 seat compartments that slide across to form 3 narrow sleeping benches. Very Harry Potter. LOL Fell asleep on one in France once and ended up by accident in Spain. o_O
     
    #17
  3. Bill Boggs

    Bill Boggs Supreme Member
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    I hope you get to make the trip. My granddaughter just won two hundred Euros for choreographing a dance in the Netherlands. She sent in a video.
     
    #18
  4. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    That's pretty neat.
     
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  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I have never had (or needed ) a passport until now; so while my daughter is still here from the Netherlands, she is going to take me to get a passport. Next year, she should have vacation time and I can fly over to the Netherlands and visit her.
    I filled out all of the personal information required to get the passport with the online website, and when I finally finished it, it just sat there and finally said that the page was lost.
    Rather than do it all over and have the same thing happen, I just printed out the empty forms and will fill them out that way and take them in with me next week.
    I had to rush order a copy of my birth certificate (which cost over $60 to get), and this morning I have been working on finding the information for marriage and divorce and printing that out.
    They are supposed to take the picture when we go in, so I do not have to find a suitable picture to use for that. So far, it looks like I should be able to get the passport with no problem, and I am looking forward to the trip overseas whenever that comes about.
     
    #20
  6. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    This is the view from where my daughter lives, with the canal right below her house, and the cathedral in the background. I can hardly wait to be able to go and see her and visit the Netherlands and Germany ! My grandmother came over from Germany around 1901, and she went to nursing school in Germany before she immigrated to America; so one of the trips we have planned is to see if we can find the building where my grandmother went to the nursing school.

    0A5AA10E-843D-4593-93CB-4F70603D3716.jpeg
     
    #21
  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    We just renewed our passports, although we've never gone anywhere with them.
     
    #22
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  8. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    How do you like it ,have you tried it yet? I may order one.
     
    #23
  9. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I have pros and cons about this, as far as my use of it. I was able to use it for the plane trip out to Washington last month, and went through the inspections with no problems.
    The mask works fine, and supplies cool, fresh air, and has 3 fan options.
    The problem that I had with it (which could have probably been fixed easily enough ) was that the face mask was so large on my face that it covered my mouth almost to my chin, and way up to my eyes; so it was almost impossible for me to see when I was wearing it. It would have been okay just sitting on the plane, although still uncomfortable.

    If I had worn it much before the trip, I would have noticed the problem, and could have cut down the top of the mask so that I could see over the top without my eyes being almost covered up.
    My daughter had a regular mask that went behind my ears, and could be worn loosely, so I ended up using that for the plane where I was required to wear a mask. It covered my mouth, but hung down low enough on my face that i could see and breathe easily.
     
    #24
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  10. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    Thanks ,I'm going to buy two one for each of us. And good to know we will have to do some alterations on the mask. I'm sure you'll let everyone know when you take your trip.
     
    #25
  11. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    You might not need to do any alterations, if they fit you better than they fit me. Also, I think that it comes with a kit so that you can use it with any mask that you already have that hooks over the ears. Some kind of little grommets that fit on your mask, and then the air can come inside. When you check the link on Amazon, I think it shows that , but i do not remember for sure.
     
    #26
  12. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    I hope it works for you. The trip sounds GRAND. But get started on the passport. Sometimes takes months to get one, especially with covid.
     
    #27
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  13. Bibbi Wright

    Bibbi Wright Very Well-Known Member
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    Hope you make it Yvonne but remember to check possible Covid restrictions first. At the moment The Netherlands require that vaccinated travelers produce a negative Covid PCR or antigen test taken not more than 24 hours before departure. Unvaccinated travelers are not allowed entry for leisure travel purposes.
     
    #28
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  14. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    We went to Sam’s Club today for our monthly shopping trip, and one of the ladies working there also had one of the ventilator masks; but she had a different face mask that mine had on it, so it was not covering up her eyes. I don’t know if she ordered a different brand that comes with the black mask, or if she just used the grommets to make her regular mask work with the ventilator hose.
    I asked her how she liked it, and she said that she loved hers, and she would be wearing it for hours every day at work; so that seemed like a good recommendation to me.
     
    #29
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  15. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I have NEWS ! !
    The trip is actually going to happen ! I did get all the passport stuff done last summer, so i have that taken care of, and they have relaxed the mask restrictions on airplanes now, too. Even if I have to wear it, I still have the one Robin gave me for the trip out to Idaho last summer.

    My daughter is coming home from the Netherlands the last part of this month to see her MS doctor, and take care of some things with her house, since my son and DIL have moved out here for his job, and are going to be living at Robin’s house.
    In October , she goes back and I will be going with her, and then in December, the place she works is closing down for a couple of weeks, so we will come back to Alabama together. We should have time this fall to see around parts of the Netherlands and some of Germany while I am there, and I am very excited about being able to go.

    I just saw the heart doctor this week, and they said I am doing fine, and don’t have to come back in for 6 months, so i am cleared for the trip with the doctor, too.
    Robin and I both have the “gypsy gene” and love to travel; so I know that this will be a fabulous trip and visit with her.
     
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